Wabash Arts Corridor Announces Public Tours

News Office Staff / Jun 12, 2019

external Columbia building with colorful floral muralPhoto: Phil Dembinski ’08
Enjoy Chicago’s South Loop and help fund public art.

For the first time, the Wabash Arts Corridor (WAC) launched by Columbia College Chicago will be offering public tours of the large-scale mural installations and collaborative public art projects.

The tours will encourage people to better engage with the public art, as well as provide a fundraising opportunity to enhance and maintain one of the largest collections of public murals.

“The Wabash Arts Corridor consistently accommodates tours for international journalists to local neighbors, but we’ve never had an organized public program,” said Neysa Page-Lieberman, Executive Director of Exhibit and Performance Spaces at Columbia College Chicago. “We are extremely excited to now offer three tours a month this summer and a chance for people to immerse themselves in the urban landscape like never before.”

Beginning this Saturday, June 15, tourists and locals can sign up for scheduled tours every other Saturday and one Thursday a month through the end of summer.

The new public program was developed after Page-Lieberman hosted a group which included Jessica Williams, a former professor and seasoned guide for cultural institutions. Williams expressed interest in preparing a group of volunteer docents to lead public tours.

“I think the WAC is one of the city’s great treasures,” said Williams. “Public art can be enjoyed by everyone as casual observers, but this will offer tourists and residents a chance to immerse themselves in creative expression on display in the South Loop.” 

The 90-minute tours will feature some of WAC’s most famous towering murals as well as hidden gems tucked away in alleys, revealing behind-the-scenes stories about how some of the most iconic murals came to be.

The tours will also introduce how Columbia initiated the project corridor, in partnership with the City of Chicago and hundreds of community members, neighborhood associations and businesses. Audiences will learn about the local, national and international artists who have helped grow this public art program into one of the largest urban collections in just 5 years.

Tour participants will walk about one mile and the tours are accessible for persons in wheelchairs and families with strollers. Tours meet in all weather conditions at 623 S. Wabash Ave. and conclude at Michigan Ave. and 13th St. Prices are $18 for adults and $12 for seniors; children under five are free. Tickets can be purchased online at  https://shop.colum.edu/brands/ticketed-events/
 
Summer Schedule: 

Saturday, June 15, 2019, 11am
Thursday, June 20, 2019, 5:30
Saturday, June 29, 2019,11am  
Saturday, July 13, 2019, 11am
Thursday, July 18, 2019, 5:30pm
Saturday, July 27, 2019, 11am
Saturday, August 10, 2019, 11am
Thursday, August 15, 2019, 5:30
Saturday, August 24, 2019, 11am

Fall dates coming soon, and additional dates for group tours by request.

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Columbia College Chicago is a private, nonprofit college offering a distinctive curriculum that blends creative and media arts, liberal arts, and business for nearly 7,000 students in more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Dedicated to academic excellence and long-term career success, Columbia College Chicago creates a dynamic, challenging, and collaborative space for students who experience the world through a creative lens. For more information, visit www.colum.edu.

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Lamb
Associate Vice President of Strategic Communications and External Relations
llukidis@colum.edu
312-369-8695

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